[David] Axelrod's daughter, Lauren, is a longtime Special Olympian who has competed in swimming and track and field events. His wife, Susan, was part of a delegation led last month by Vice President Joe Biden to the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho.

One punchline tossed on Leno far overshadows all that real connection that his administration had here. And it's especially sad because (I don't think) Obama was just spouting a new joke that sprang into his head. I think it was a scripted punchline.

"This was a degrading remark about our world's most precious and unique people, coming from the most powerful position in the world," fumed former GOP veep pick and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose youngest son, Trig, has Down syndrome.

"These athletes overcome more challenges, discrimination and adversity than most of us ever will," she added.

The Obama campaign continues for what reason? That is his only known skill. But now the news about his gaffes is not hidden anymore. It appears that some of the news media wants to play fair in public a little to redeem their total partisan effort for Obama 24/7 over the last 18 months. Will Michelle Obama permit this to go on for long? Who will begin to discipline these free thinking reporters? The Journolist knows. Stay tuned.

I would agree this did not look like a moment of spontaneous free flow. He said it as Jay was getting audience laughter on his somewhat sarcastic, "oh that's good" and putting his hand to his mouth and making big eyes. You can sense the audience laughter at Jay's physical comedy threw the One's timing off, as you can see it at play when he tells Jay and the audience, he bowled a 129.

He started to say it, but stopped at the audience laughter and then said it during the laughter, or in comedic sense he lost his timing.

With the endlessly complex and overwheming issues facing the American people today, this one is actually amazingly simple.

Scripted or not, the President's remark, while regrettable and childish, is forgivable. It is obvious to every person of good will that Obama bears no ill will towards the disabled or their families or supporters of the Special Olympics. The awkward appearance and uproar are sufficent chastisement for a man new to his position.

The only real issue that matters here is the unexpected national reminder of the irrational hatred of President Bush, aided and abetted by the press. The treatment of Bush in an exact same situation would be fodder for their hatred, endlessly repeated and enshrined in a Michael Moore documentary. The surprise exposure of their hypocrisy and obvious discomfort being experienced by Bush haters is supremely delightful to those of us who called them out over the previous 8 years.

AlphaLiberal. hdhouse, garage, downtownlad, Freder, UWS . . .

Olberman, Maddow, Matthews, Milbank . . .

Helloooooooo?

So that's what your legs look like with your pants around your ankles!

Special Olympics are huge, beyond the friends and family of the Special Olympians. Practically every friend I have has been coach and none are the parents or sibling of a participant. This was a bad slip indeed.

I said this in an earlier thread, but I'm going to guess that not only was it scripted, but it was designed to have exactly the effect that it is having right now. Note that he called the S.O. chair to apologize before the show even aired.

Result- we're all talking about this, and debating it's merit (and lefties get a good chance to jump in a defend him), rather than discussing the actual job he's doing.

"This was a degrading remark about our world's most precious and unique people, coming from the most powerful position in the world," fumed former GOP veep pick and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose youngest son, Trig, has Down syndrome.

Now Palin has to explain to Bristol and Willow and Piper why they're not as precious to her as their baby brother is. My parents believed that daughters were the special snowflakes with which God blesses the home. So I feel bad for the girls.

SG hit the nail on the head--it was an attempt at self-deprecation that fell flat because Obama isn't inherently self-deprecating--at all.

That's what makes me think the remark was only partially scripted. The bowling joke was almost certainly written for him; it's not something Obama himself would ever have said. The Special Olympics remark, however, could never have been inserted by a thoughtful scripter (especially Axelrod). I think Obama stuck in that remark to sound like "one of the guys."

Meanwhile JouroLists is consensing about how it doesn't matter who knew what, when, and how about AIG bonuses. We're not supposed to care about that, you see. Or the bonuses that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae folks are getting (that one has me really puzzled).

The question is why can Congress make a law targeting a specific number of specific people -- when they, Congress, voted to give them their bonuses to start with? Isn't there something not right about that kind of power?

Does my Senator (one of whom I did NOT vote for) think this is what they are elected to do? Maybe the Senator should think about the rule of law and what their responsibilities really are.

Read the damn bills to start with. Explore and debate the issues. Listen to the consituentcy (Who? Them?? Poor ignorant idjits. We need to help them Shhhh now, don't you worry ....)

The sloppy, irresponsible, immature, unprofessional way the Congress and the Senate of the United States of America have behaved in the last 2 1/2 months is horrifying.

So yes, we have noticed. And will continue to notice.

And Obama is still flaunting his training wheel presidency and it is pathetic. And we will notice.

Read the damn bills to start with. Explore and debate the issues. Listen to the consituentcy (Who? Them?? Poor ignorant idjits. We need to help them Shhhh now, don't you worry ....)

The sloppy, irresponsible, immature, unprofessional way the Congress and the Senate of the United States of America have behaved in the last 2 1/2 months is horrifying.

Not as bad as they acted in December 2000, when Phil Gramm piggybacked his Commodity Futures Modernization Act on top of a 10,000 page spending bill, when most politicos were watching the Bush-Gore drama play out. This merely insured that the credit default swaps that took AIG down would go unregulated -- this after the swaps-induced failure of the Long Term Capital Management hedge fund.

But the sloppy, irresponsible, immature, unprofessional Congress and the Senate of the United States of America did not read the bill, snd did not debate the issues, so we are now facing an economic 9/11.

The guy is a sarcastic jerk with no sense about how a president should act.

Oh, please. Tell us how a president should "act," then. Enlighten us.

While it was only stupid of him to make the remark because of the sideshow reactions from people like you, there was nothing sarcastic or jerky about it. If anything, it was incredibly self-deprecating and humanizing.

God bless Sarah Palin. I thought of her when I heard what Obama said and I'm glad she got a chance to throw some mud. She has a right to point out his unpresidential behavior after what was said about her.

Don't forget, regardless of what anyone thinks about Obama's Special Olympics comments, the entire Leno appearance was unpresidential.

Strikes me we are stuck with a president who suffers from Asperger's. Just think of all the stupid things he has done in social situations and the way he has to be fed his lines on the teleprompter all the time or else he is lost. Not good to have someone that totally delusional in the position he holds. In fact, downright scary.

There is a political reason for the delay in finding a dog for the Obama children. The Obama Perpetual Campaign is actively seeking out an adorable wolf cub recently orphaned by Palin's policy of lupine genocide. They wish to have plenty of pictures with the adorable children posing with the adorable puppy. In a subtle dig at Palin, the children will name the puppy Please Don't Kill Me Sarah. Such pictures will bolster Obama's image as the kindly protective father of us all.....The down side is that fully grown wolves tend to treat children as prey. But that's why we have a secret service.

Scripted or not, the President's remark, while regrettable and childish, is forgivable. It is obvious to every person of good will that Obama bears no ill will towards the disabled or their families or supporters of the Special Olympics. The awkward appearance and uproar are sufficent chastisement for a man new to his position.

It might be forgiveable, but I disagree about the ill will. It seems to me the only interpretation of the joke is that the Special Olympics are comically inept the same way that Obama is as a bowler. There's at least a kernel of casual contempt in that joke, and he deserves to take some flack for it.

It is hard to say if it was scripted. Obama clearly has about average intelligence and below average mental agility. It takes a certain kind of active mind to go back and forth extemperaniously with someone like Leno. BO clearly doesn't have that kind of mind. He has to be lead and carefully prepared and his remarks laid out for him. When he doesn't have that, he doesn't have either the natural intelligence or the charm to do very well.

Because of his inability to operate without strict instruction and guidance, it is plausable that this was the result of BO going off the script and predictably saying something stupid. But also consider how not ready for prime time his staff has been. Considering their record for vetting nominees and gaffes such as the giving a red button to the President of Russia, it is also possible his staff wrote the jock and was too dumb to realize that it was offensive. We will never know. Worse, whichever it is it doesn't give you much confidence about the future.

He was good at running for president providing the deck was stacked with, a) a fawning and complicit media and, b) a dumb-downed, politically corrected, and American Idol-ized electorate.

Now he's going to regulate the salaries of financial CEOs. He makes me nostalgic for Jimmy Carter he's so destructively stupid.

Either this trainwreck of a presidency and democrat congress will wake up a sufficient number of people to dethrone and discredit the neo-Marxists who call themselves "liberals' or we will descend into chaos and bloodshed as the country's financial and civic institutions implode.

I sure hope that comment wasn't scripted. If it was, that means more than one person looked at it after it was written down, and thought it was OK. I hope he doesn't have that kind of adolescent jerk helping him run the country.

@Zachery, you asked how a president should act. I'll be pleased to oblige you.

What I look for in candidates includes the following characteristics: gravitas, leadership, integrity, an ethical compass, and a sense that not everyone who disagrees with him is doing so out of pettiness or spite or mendacity.

As far as the two candidates were concerned, I felt that I could see all five characteristics in John McCain, and none of them in Barack Obama, and so I voted for John McCain. Nothing I have seen since the election -- much less the inauguration -- suggest to me that I was wrong in my assessment of Obama.

He may yet grow into the job, but right now I'd have to say that that's not the way to bet.

I didn't watch it, but have no problem with a President appearing with good humor on Leno, or SNL, or Laugh-In.

That said -

The guy is a sarcastic jerk...

Yes, he is. His humor, usually mild, is generally at the expense of others. It's because it's mild that this is most often the reaction...

He didn't mean harm. Let him apologize and let it go.

He does a lot of apologizing. People do a lot of letting it go.

And, as if often the case, I agree with Freeman.

It might be forgiveable, but I disagree about the ill will. It seems to me the only interpretation of the joke is that the Special Olympics are comically inept the same way that Obama is as a bowler. There's at least a kernel of casual contempt in that joke, and he deserves to take some flack for it.

From the abundance of the heart, and all that. When the words out of our mouths reflect what we believe is true we don't make "mistakes" like this.

Honestly, would you make a joke like that at work?

No. Not that it never happens but who doesn't realize that it pushes over into inappropriate humor? Which is, sometimes, funny, but never accidental.

Agree. But we live in the age of Victimology and the mob of the perpetually outraged, shocked, mortified, and down dirt hurt and offended. Who rise up in a Tsunami of self-righteousness whenever someone kids someone outside the "approved" safe objects of derision - CEOs, white people, fat people, scientologists.

Like it or not, almost everyone has heard a "special Olympics joke". A few years back, doing track stuff, I heard a HS football coach rail on his team after scrimmage that they looked awful and they were up against a powerhouse team next week and they were playing like a pack of special olympics retards. And did their parents and friends want to see them like that? Not PC, but quite effectively motivational.

Anyhow, my own non-PC idea of fun would be to see John McCain, hobbled by age and war injury try and beat a Special Olympian wearing his usual hockey helmet in one-on-one basketball. That would be hiralious to watch.

I was a big fan of the Aussie dwarf tossing fad years ago. We had a video of that. There was dwarf tossing for distance, dwarf domino toppling, dwarf tossing for height - which employed velcro'd dwarfs for tossing up against a padded velco wall. And a female contest for dwarf-tossing around.

And the tape had a coming attraction of bowling with dwarfs. Where a hog-tied dwarf wearing a helmet was rolled by contestents on a basketball court against full sized humans dressed in white arranged in a set with their legs duct-taped.

The tape had interviews. The dwarfs and midgets used said they absolutely loved it and were paid well and many of the contestents enjoyed meeting and becoming chums with "the little blokes".

The way that this presidency is shaping up to be a repeat of Carter's presidency is alarming. It was Carter, after all, who decided to share with his fellow Americans apropos of nothing that he got all lusty seeing women on the campaign trail. It was Carter who talked of malaise. It was Carter who couldn't seem to lift the country out of a funk.

Me, I'm just glad we elect representatives and one third of our senators every two years. It's going to a healthy corrective and a very satisfying November in 2010.

Don't forget, regardless of what anyone thinks about Obama's Special Olympics comments, the entire Leno appearance was unpresidential.

That's exactly the point. The fact that Obama said something dumb on Leno is a direct result of the fact that he was on Leno to begin with - a stupid thing for a President to do, in any circumstances, but especially galling considering the circumstances of this country.

We expect our celebrities to do and say dumb things. Obama, however, isn't Lindsey Lohan, has a lot more responsibilities, and shouldn't be parading around like her to begin with.

After Obama apologizes it, Palin jumps all over him to remind people she exists and has a child with Downs. Classy act. Not.

Oh, AlphaLiberal, only you could find something wrong with defending the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. Where I'm from, we don't find petty excuses to trash those who stand up for basic human dignity.

It's not that you can't be all of those things at once, it's that if you're going to trot out the meme for special needs people, at least stay consistent with your grand dame from up north. You'll be more effective that way.

You'd think "obromophile" would be more in line. Doesn't she keep up on her talking points? She's got Ann Coulter and Free Republic on her blogroll, after all. Get it together, sister! It's "precious and unique," not "weak and vulnerable." Avoid pejorative connotations when talking about "groups" we want to exploit.

Zachery, the way you capitalized "BUSH KEPT US SAFE" makes me think you regard that as a small accomplishment. I've been privileged to have had a very small hand in it, and I regard it as very non-trivial. I suspect that you have reasoned in a circular way from the meme that "George W. Bush is a dolt" (he isn't) to the fact that there have been no further terrorist attacks on American soil to the belief that it must be easy since the person you regarded as a dolt accomplished it.

What will you do when and if al Qaeda strikes again? I suppose you'll trying blaming Bush, but it won't wash. Will you reconsider the "George Bush is a dolt" perspective? Or will you decide that Barack Obama must be an even bigger dolt?

I know you think that Palin is unelectable ZPS, but you're not the first one I've seen bring this up...

Palin jumping in, after refusing stimulus money...

And I do wonder... at what point does this become a negative? When the money was supposed to be for a good cause? It's *all* for a good cause! And almost invariably for a "good cause" that isn't going to stimulate the economy at all.

Zachary: my screen name means "chocolate-lover," which you probably know. Please get it right, or just abbreviate to "theo."

As for my comment about weak and vulnerable members of our society: I'm one of those pro-life nutjobs who think that all humans are infinitely valuable. Nevertheless, it is the rare society that supports all of its members, not just those with physical strength, political connections, family name, wealth, or any other measure of functional (not intrinsic) worth. Calls to change that - to live in a world in which all people are considered to be worthwhile - are never a bad thing. Ever.

There's something terribly ironic - and not a little bit misguided - about criticising anyone, especially a conservative, for not hewing to the talking points. My side is frequently derided for letting Ann, Laura, and Rush do our thinking for us; now, you're all upset that I'm using my own mind. Which will it be?

Of all the stupid things to complain about, Zach, that is second only to AlphaLiberal's complaints about Gov. Palin's defence of special-needs children. Liberals are now upset that conservatives think for themselves and support people with special needs? What's next on the chopping block - apple pie? Girl Scout cookies?

*shrug* because a President depends heavily on precision in language. The wrong word at the wrong time could cause enormous trouble.

E.g. if you're in front of a large group of Jewish voters and say that "Jerusalem will remain undivided" it means that the Palestinians won't have any portion of Jerusalem. And while it'll make the Jews happy it will piss off the Palestinians.

And then if you have to backtrack you'll end up pissing off the Jews while not making any friends in the Palestinian camp because you've shown yourself as unreliable.

As history has shown when Obama stuck his foot in his mouth doing precisely this.

Obama should have said something less controversial like, "Women's college and professional basketball is a joke. We have better pick-up games at the White House." We could all have agreed with him on that and had one big laugh. Next stop for Barry: a try out as a recurring character on 30 Rock using Tina Fey as a foil. Time to give up the day job, Obie?

"I understand why you guys were so offended, seeing as how most Sarah Palin supporters are fucking retards."

Most Sarah Palin supporters are people who wouldn't ever consider using language like this on a public forum.

Some believe that doing so precludes any further intelligent conversation, argument, or persuasion, and leaves you merely as a thrower of excrement, whose preferences and opinions really ought not mean much to the rest of us anyway.

Others believe it to be a capitulation in self-recognition that the speaker has no further logical argument nor the intellect to present it if one did.

I'm sort of a "glass half-full" guy, and so, reading your post, I'm thinking both groups get it right.

Instead of debating whether Obama's comment was scripted, why aren't we looking into whether the financial meltdown was scripted? Seems that there were a lot of Congressmen, boosters of Fred/Fan/CRA who actively encouraged financial irresponsibility, who have since used the crisis to "have their way" with the budget and send the country down the socialist path.

If the crisis was scripted, how would we prove it? If we could prove it, what laws were violated, who violated them, and what punishment should be applied? Was/is there a conspiracy against the nation?

If it comes out 10 or 20 years hence that the whole thing was instigated by the Dems to embarass the Republicans and sieze power, we're going to wonder why, with the country at a crossroads, we focused our attention on a careless remark.

There's enough brains and legal HP here to turn over some big rocks. Instead we're worried about PC behaviour, feelings, and eats. Not much different than the MSM, really.Dud

No one's noticing that this is of a kind with the "clinging to their guns and religion" slander during the campaign?

I mean, this Leno appearance IS a continuation of the campaign. Why isn't his behavior being identified as simply more of the same -- trying to find hooks into one crowd by playing to what he projects their views are of a crowd that's presumed not to be present, or in hearing?

"Apparently if you object to retard jokes, you're obliged to uncritically support all government spending that might benefit a retard somewhere. Otherwise you're a total hypocrite, man."

hdhouse didn't do his homework. Palin is opposed, as are many local government entities, to being on the hook for program expenditures once the stimulus money runs out. But I'm sure that the dog residing at the residence of hdhouse ate his math, econ and political economy books. So, we are subjected to the same degree of indigestion that Rover endured.

Let's Hear It For the Tards Iowahawk reprints an advice column from our "Tard in Chief"

Dear Barry:

Our 12 year old son Tyler is developmentally disabled. Tyler's learning center has a Special Olympics program and we (along with his teachers) have been encouraging him to participate. Every time we bring it up to him, however, Tyler pushes back and becomes very withdrawn. We love Tyler very much and don't want to force him into it, but we think the Special Olympics would be a terrific experience and help him conquer his shyness and introversion. Do you have any suggestions for helping him get past this fear?

Jean and Ted in Westmont

Dear Jean and Ted:

As you know I am a big fan of the Special Olympics program, and all the good things it does for young Mongoloid-Americans like your son. Nothing inspires more than the sight of these heroic young tards hilariously giving it their all in the arena of friendly athletic competition.

Has anyone noticed the screenshot Anne used for the video has Barry in that classic “ain’t I pretty” grin?

He sure is pretty. And the kids are cute. And the TOTUS is scaring me because all the talking heads are using one these days. So you never know if something is scripted or extemporaneous. Who’s words are we hearing, Barry’s or David Axlerod? Or does it matter?

We know that consciously Obama doesn't have anything against the handicapped - like each of us, he loves all good things and hates all bad things. What his faux pas reveals is a shocking ineptitude - that he forgot he was president; for a guy who has ever lived by his charm (for he has never really worked in his life - no summer job on the shop floor, no factory, no farm, no truck delivery job) - this was an astonishing lapse. And it does reveal something; we just don't know what...

If someone were standing if front of you who had a son or daughter was a special olympian, would you make such a comment? Of course not. Obama is the President on national TV. He was effectively in presense of millions of people whose sons and daughters are special olympians. His statement was the height of carelessness.

The question is why can Congress make a law targeting a specific number of specific people -- when they, Congress, voted to give them their bonuses to start with? Isn't there something not right about that kind of power?

It's called a "bill of attainder" and is specifically prohibited by the Constitution.

As for Obambi's remark, it was obviously scripted, poorly thought out, and shows The One as the arrogant, out-of-touch elitist he is. Every time I hear about something like this from him I flash back to the, "I just want to finish my waffle." remark. Obama is not a person who engages in dialogue or seeks to exchange ideas. He's singleminded and completely full of himself. He probably thought of the "Special Olympics" remark all by himself and if anything is annoyed now that others don't see the brilliance of the joke.

"But why do I have to pretend to be horrified by a comment that was funny AND accurate?"

Because you are an idiot. My older sister is a long time special olypian. I can tell you from going to the events many special olympians are quite good a their events. Not world class but much better than your average weekend athlete. If you were anything but an ignorant bigoted twit, you would know that.

Obama completely misunderstood the nature of any executive position. He completely misunderstands the true nature of power and how to wield it. He obviously believes that "we won" means he can simply do whatever he pleases with no regard to political reality or anything else. (Among other things, he also very much overestimated what political handlers can do.)

The thing I noted is that what passes in Obama's mind as self-deprecating humor is mroe along the lines of "I'm so f'ed up I'm almost as bad as them." He did it with Nancy Reagan (seance comment), he did it with Special Olympians. It is simply indicative of his hubris and narcissism.

Susan Axelrod said. "We have been with him with Lauren, and he is nothing but totally respectful." Still, she called it an unfortunate comment.

Another thing I found interesting was Susan Axelrod's statement that "Knowing the president the way I do, I would assume that he is horrified that he said this, and I think he will make every attempt to make something positive out of it." Maybe the LAT poorly quoted her of left out some vital proper nouns for context, but just reading this statement it seems that Susan expects Obama to be horrified that he said it. Hello? He's the one who said it, how could he be horrified by his own words?